Publicly available reviews are an information sourced used by buyers and sellers to evaluate commercial transactions and/or information quality over the Internet. With the amount of information available, individuals frequently rely on ratings from friends, experts, or the general public to evaluate products and services. However, there is a growing problem with fraudulent reviews, decreasing the accuracy of the reviews and their usefulness for both customers and business owners.
According to some studies, as many as 30% of all online reviews are fake (G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Paid product reviews are spreading on the Internet. Can technology help?, The Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 18, 2012). Review systems fall apart if the reviews become untrustworthy. Attempts have been made to eliminate fraudulent reviews, but currently the only way to determine if a user has actually tried a product or service is if the product or service was purchased through the site hosting the review.
Online reviews can be helpful for both consumers and businesses, providing feedback on products and services. However, there is a problem with false reviews, either praising or denigrating a product or service. There is therefore a need for a means of verifying that a reviewer actually purchased the product or service being reviewed, regardless of where item was purchased.